The present invention relates to a pillow for a patient during a medical procedure, and more particularly relates to a type of pillow used to support a patient's head, shoulders, arms and hands during medical imaging procedures to increase the patient's comfort.
Medical imaging procedures such as, for example, SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and SPECT-CT (CAT Scan), often require a patient to lie down on a surface and to remain as motionless as possible. To obtain SPECT images, a gamma camera is generally rotated around the patient and projections are acquired at defined points during the rotation, typically about every 3-6 degrees. A 360 degree rotation is commonly used to obtain an optimal reading. It generally takes about 15-20 seconds to take each projection, thus the approximate time of a total reading is at least 15-20 minutes. Therefore, a patient must remain as still as possible while lying down for over 15 minutes. As can be appreciated, this can be quite difficult and uncomfortable for the patient. Further, additional testing may be required if the patient does not remain still enough. To ameliorate this procedure for the patient, a head pillow may be provided for the patient to rest his head on.
Other issues result when a patient's torso is being imaged. In such situations, it is often required for the patient to remove one or both of his arms from the imaging area. To comply with this requirement, the patient usually places his arms over his head (and on the surface that he is lying on). Here, even when a pillow is provided for the patient to rest his head on, the patient's shoulders, arms and hands do not have a comfortable surface to rest on. To remedy this problem, patients may be given additional pillows to rest these body parts on. In addition to introducing more non-essential elements into the imaging machine, the inclusion of additional pillows often does not provide the patient with a desired level of comfort.
The present invention includes a pillow that enables a patient to rest his head, shoulders, arms and hands on during a medical procedure, such as an imaging procedure.